Thomas Smith Jr.
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Thomas Smith | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Mathews County | |
| In office October 1, 1792 – December 3, 1797 | |
| Preceded by | position created |
| Succeeded by | William Buckner |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Gloucester County | |
| In office Oct 18, 1790 – , 1791 Serving with John Billups | |
| Preceded by | Mordecai Cooke |
| Succeeded by | James Baytop |
| In office May1, 1780 – Oct 18, 1789 Serving with Thomas Peyton, John Page, James Hubbard, Mann Page Jr. | |
| Preceded by | John Whiting |
| Succeeded by | Mann Page |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Rev. Armistead Smith (brother) Thomas Smith (Gloucester politician)(nephew) |
| Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | Virginia Militia |
| Rank | major |
Thomas Smith (circa 1755 – circa 1800) was an American lawyer, militia officer and politician in Virginia who represented Gloucester then newly created Mathews County in the Virginia House of Delegates for most of the years between 1780 and 1796, as well as Gloucester County in the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788.[1] The first of six men of the same name to serve in the Virginia General Assembly, as described below, his relationship to Sir Thomas Smith, Treasurer of the Virginia Company in the 17th century is unclear.
This man was the eldest son born to Dorothy Armistead and her husband Capt. Thomas Smith of "Beechland" in what was then Gloucester County. His parents had married about 1753 and before Dorothy died, her family also included three daughters (Susannah, Elizabeth and Anne would reach adulthood) and a second son (whom they named Armistead). His father remarried on December 20, 1771, to Ann Plater of Maryland, who survived him but bore no children.[2] During the American Revolutionary War, the senior Thomas Smith served in the 1st Virginia Regiment, and eventually held the rank of colonel in the county militia. During the conflict (1776-1778), Thomas the younger and his brother Armistead studied at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg; both brothers were among the founders of Phi Beta Kappa society, with this man as its first secretary.[1] His brother Rev. Armistead Smith was ordained as a minister in the Episcopal Church in 1793 and became rector of Kingston Parish, then historic Ware and Abington parishes.[3]
The published family genealogy claims they were descended from nephews (Arthur and Alexander) of the Virginia Company treasurer who never visited the colony. The first members of this Smith family to settle in Gloucester County were named Lawrence and John Smith, who were sons of Thomas Smith, the son of Arthur Smith who emigrated to Virginia in 1622 (around the time of native uprisings) and settled in Isle of Wight County (south of the James River). Several of that Arthur Smith's descendants would serve as burgesses from southside Virginia counties. Meanwhile John Smith of "Purton" in Gloucester County would become speaker of the House of Burgesses, and married Anne Bernard in 1662. They had one son, also John Smith (Jr.), who married Mary Warner on February 17, 1680 and had a son John Smith (III) as well as Augustine Smith of "Shooters Hill", Philip Smith and daughters Mildred, Mary, Elizabeth and Anne. John Smith III married Anne Alexander in 1711, and had a son also John Smith (IV) who lived in Gloucester County and might have been the revolutionary Captain Thomas Smith's father. Meanwhile, Arthur's brother Alexander Smith settled in Middlesex County (also north of the York River) by 1634.[4]
